Greatest Love
Love in Action • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Introduction
A phenomenon that has always puzzled me was black Friday. Now don’t get me wrong I love a good deal. I used to love it when that store in the mall was open were you could dig through the bins looking for great deals on returned items. We would go in there and I would spend hours digging through those bins. When I was in college we had a store called “Urban Outfitters” that sold overstock or damaged name brand clothes at ridiculously low prices. I loved it. So I love a good deal. What I don’t understand is getting up in the middle of the night, standing in long lines, and then worst of all, running people over, just to get 20% off a TV.
Black Friday is a symptom of a greater trend in our society, its the “Me First” culture that we live in. We can see it expressed in so many different aspects of our culture, from Black Friday, to pornography, to road rage, to even the prosperity gospel, our culture is all about the all powerful “me.” Our ego in action.
But this is not the heart of the Gospel. God does not desire us to be self fulfilling, but rather God longs for us to live in selfless relationship, a relationship where we put others before ourselves. This is how God expresses love in action. The best example of this is found when Jesus is questioned about “which is the greatest commandment” in Matthew 22. Jesus says that the first and greatest commandment is to ........
Love God
Love God
Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.
Have no other God’s
Don’t make something else the God of your lives
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
What ever you put first in your life is your God
Politicians
Celebrities
Pastors
My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
When we focus our adoration on them we make them the God’s of our lives
Do not make images
We don’t all have little statues to foreign God’s in our houses
There are things in life that we worship
money
power
fame
when these are more important to us then they become our God’s
Do not take the Lord’s name in vain
When we use God’s name for anything other than his adoration we are not living in love
O.M.G.
Honor the Sabbath
When we honor the sabbath we are putting God first
When we honor the sabbath we are recognizing God’s providence
When we honor the sabbath we are submitting to God’s power
Then Jesus says the second greatest commandment is like the first. It is to ...........
Love Your Neighbor
Love Your Neighbor
And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
Honor Mom and Dad
God later instructs the Israelites to teach their children everything about God
Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
If the children of the Israelites learned about God they would have continued to follow him
By honoring our parents we are lead to continue to honor God
Do not kill your neighbor
Jesus says Matthew 5:22
But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister, will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
killing our neighbor is not just about the physical act but it about our mental condition
Do not commit adultery with your neighbor
Jesus says Matthew 5:27-28
“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.
Lust destroys the human condition, this is why things like pornography are so destructive. They cut at the core of our humanity.
When we commit adultery we are not just betraying the one we love, we are tearing apart God’s design for us to be in relationship
This is why when someone gets a divorce there is a very real mourning process that goes along with it.
Do not seal from your neighbor
Theft not only hurts our neighbor
Theft creates distrust, distrust leads to a broken relationship
Do not lie about your neighbor
When we lie about our neighbor we are intentionally trying to hurt them
This is done for our own benefit, when we are clearly told to “lay down our lives for a friend” John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
When we lie about our neighbor we are intentionally trying to hurt them, and there is no love in that.
Do not desire what your neighbor’s stuff
Paul says we should be content in every situation
When we desire what others have we are saying we are not content with what God has given us.
Everything belongs to God and he distributes it as he sees fit.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Love in action is not about what we do for ourselves. Love in action about putting others before ourselves. If we look at the two greatest commandments we see that they all have to do with loving other people before ourselves. That was the example that Jesus set for us. But we cannot do this on our own. Our human nature drives us to always put ourselves before others. It’s only when we empty ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to transform us that we could ever hope to live up to these two greatest commandments. So today I ask to to make the choice, submit to the Holy Spirit, and allow him to transform you into the creation you were designed to be. The creation that loves others before we love ourselves. The creation that love the Lord our God with all our heart, our mind, and our spirit, and love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us pray